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Ford FocusOverall, it feels cushier than other compacts, both in terms of its comfortable seats and its soft suspension. It's fun to drive, however, with agile handling. It's comfortable on long trips and stable at high speeds. The Focus is among the best of the compacts in terms of ride quality and has been lauded by the enthusiast publications for its handling.
I bought my 04' Focus about a year ago and ever since have had problems with the windshield wipers.
If I turn them on, they will swipe across just fine, but when the blades are not moving, they should be stationary at the bottom of the windshield, right? Well, they aren't. They are always 8-12" above the bottom of the windshield. Very annoying in my opinion.
Also, if I push down to give the windshield one quick swipe, it should swipe, then rest at the bottom, but....not mine. I have to hold the lever down during the entire swipe. If I let go, the blades will stop wherever they were when I let go. Often times, middle of the windshield. So, I've got to have good timing to get the blades to rest correctly at the bottom.
Is this normal? Any ideas on it?
Also, I've been getting what I assume is bad gas mileage for a 4 cylinder car. I get 19-20 mpg city and 22-24 highway. Any ideas on this as well?
I had the same problem on my 2002 Focus and found a TSB that explains the problem and solution.
"Some 2002-2005 Focus vehicles may exhibit concerns with the intermittent wiper function or wiper park function. The wipers will operate properly in the normal and/or high speed setting. Symptoms may include intermittent wipers inoperative, one sweep function stops in the middle of the glass when the stalk is released (sweep function is operational if the stalk is held), wipers jumping up when parked from the intermiffent mode."
"To service, replace the wiper relay. If the condition is still present, continue with normal Workshop Manual diagnosis."
I took a chance and replaced the wiper relay by purchasing one at my Ford dealership this morning and it took care of the problem...no more out of place wipers when on. The relay is under the dashboard in the fuse block. The cost for me was $12.49.
FYI - I bought the relay for this. It was $15 and it fixed my problem completely. It was located in relay location R19 in my 04 focus. Thanks for the input. You're awesome!
threads a bit old, but I have the same problem so I think I'll go get that fixed tomorrow....just trying to find all problems with this car... (damn rear windows :|)
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Wipers stopping in middle of windshield 
Linear Mode
